Ruturaj Gaikwad’s gesture steals the show after Prithvi Shaw denied Ranji honour despite third fastest double century

Bouncing back from his dismissal for eight runs in the first innings at the Sector 16 Stadium in Chandigarh, Shaw scored his first Ranji Trophy century for Maharashtra in 72 balls, and converted it into a daddy century in the next 69 deliveries. Reaching the double-century mark in just 141 balls, the right-hander became the third-fastest Indian batter to reach the milestone, standing only behind former India head coach Ravi Shastri (123 balls vs Baroda in 1985) and Tanmay Agarwal (119 balls vs Arunachal Pradesh in 2024).

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Shaw remained unbeaten for 222 off 156 as Maharashtra declared their second innings to set a 464-run target. In reply, Chandigarh was folded for just 319 runs after Mukesh Choudhary and Ramakrishna Ghosh picked up four wickets each.

Despite his efforts, Shaw was not named as the Player of the Match. Gaikwad, who top-scored with 116 off 163 in the first innings, was given the award. However, after receiving the medal in the post-match presentation, he called Shaw to share the honour.

Shaw made his debut for Maharashtra in the pre-season Buchi Babu tournament, where he scored 178 runs in three innings, which included a century in the first match and a fifty in the last. He then scored 181 against his former team, Mumbai, in the Ranji Trophy warm-up game earlier this month at the MCA Stadium in Pune. In his first Ranji game for Maharashtra, he was dismissed for a duck, but bounced back in the second innings to score a fifty.

The India batter switched from Mumbai to Maharashtra earlier this year after receiving a No-Objection Certificate. “At this stage of my career, I believe joining the Maharashtra team will help me grow further as a cricketer,” Shaw had said in a statement. “I am deeply grateful to the Mumbai Cricket Association for the opportunities and support I have received over the years.”

Maharashtra will play their next game against Saurashtra in Nasik on November 1.

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